The mansion was engulfed in flames, the orange and yellow blazes of Hell made its way all the way up the stairs, onto the second floor balcony, it leaped its way out of the broken windows to mingle with the humid late summer air, it even managed to worm it's ways up out of the brick chimney. In front of the burning symbol of opulence stood one solitary figure, his silhouette was cast by the flames against the ground in front of him, he had a repeater rifle in his right hand as he began to place his revolver into its leather holster. around him were several bodies, many with bullet holes in various regions on their bodies, but all laid down on the ground in a puddle of their own blood. as various parts of the mansion began to collapse from the inferno, he slowly looked up at the midnight sky.
The wagon rolled steadily down the dirt path, the driver was always pleased when the drive was so smooth, it wouldn't be very soon as the winter began to set in and the paths were covered by more and more snow making it harder for both the wagon and the horses pulling them to get up and down the hills so easily, but for now the driver was content with the peaceful journey.
He made his way further down the road he could see his destination coming up, a small developing community called New Athens, it had only existed for three years by that point, built after the territory of New Austin was acquired by the Federal Government. And though it was a young community and not as well known as Tumbleweed or Armadillo were in the region yet it still thrived none the less, known more for its abundance of livestock, mainly cows and bulls. After about a three-minute ride the driver had finally arrived in town, he pulled on the reigns to order the horses to slow down as to not run over any pedestrian. He pulled the wagon down the main street and turned it right stopping in front of a wooden building with a painted sign on the front labeled "Hudson's General Goods" finally after such a long ride the driver stepped off of the wagon and onto the dirt, he stepped onto the wooden porch covered by a roof, he walked through the door which was rigged up to make a bell ring every time it opened , the man standing behind the counter in the back of the store greeted the driver was bursting enthusiasm "Mister Roberts! How are you good sir" the clerk placed his catalog booklet onto the counter
"I am doing well Mr. Hudson, I came here to get some supplies before the cold really sets in" Mister Roberts spoke with what many of the people in town referred to as a 'Yankee accent' which was fitting as he was born and raised in the state of Connecticut and was bred as a sophisticated, well-spoken man.
The Clerk nodded his head and proceeded to gather up salted meats wrapped in cloth that he got from the butcher, and also a couple of crates of grains and canned goods. The two men took the crates and boxes and began loading them onto the Mr. Roberts' wagon when the task was done Mister Roberts closed up the back of the wagon and pulled out some coins and paper notes and handed them over to the Clerk. Mr. Hudson did the math in his head and confirmed that the money given to him was enough to purchase some more of the same stock. "Thank you very much, Mr. Roberts, have a safe trip now. And tell that Margret of yours to stay warm when the temperature drops!" the clerk smiled and waved off the man as he got back into the wagon
"She wouldn't listen to me when I said it, but I'll tell her all the same, have a good day Mr. Hudson!" Mr. Roberts waved and lightly snapped the reigns to instruct the horses to begin moving. And soon he was off back up the trail
The farther he went up the trail the more cold and bitter the air became, lush green grass was soon replaced with half-melted snow, Mr. Roberts had known the cold all too well by that point, he was accustomed to it, he had to be, living so close to the frigid mountains of the Grizzlies made the weather always irritable, especially as the winter began to set it. He smacked the reigns a couple of times to get the horses to gain a little more speed, letting them gallop along the snow-dusted trail as they made their way further north. Finally, he had arrived at his final destination, and thankfully he made good time, the sun had begun to set and he didn't really like having to travel in the dark, he had started his journey at noon meaning in total he must have spent around four to five hours on the road. He looked in front of him, a two-floored cabin stood in front of him, with bare wooden planks covering the facade of the building, to the left of it was a wooden barn which served as a glorified stable and storage shed, He pulled on the reigns to bring the horse down to barely a trot and he brought the wagon inside the barn. He unhitched the horses and lead them over to their stables and placed them in. He then brought all of the crates up onto a second platform inside the barn. Finally, Mr. Roberts made his way towards the house and walked through the front door
As he shook off the snow from his riding boots and dusted off his coat, then a young five year-old girl with long brown hair came rushing down the steps to the second floor
"Daddy!" she jumped up and gave him as big of an embrace as her small frame would allow screaming ecstatically "Daddy's home! Daddy's home Mamma!"
A woman around Mr. Robert's age walked out into the main room and also embraced him, he returned the gesture and gave her a quick peck on the cheek "Welcome back darling" the woman smiled letting him go,
"Hello Margret" he tipped his wide-brimmed Dark colored Stalker hat before removing it from his head, allowing his dark brown hair to fall down, It was cut short, stopping just a little after the ears and parted to the right side of his head, he scratched his beard, it well trimmed but also large and somewhat bushy, around the cheeks the hair had begun to turn gray signifying his age.
"How did it go in town dear?" Margret asked arching an eyebrow, while Mr. Roberts' "Yankee accent" signified the region of his birth, Margret's thick accent and manner of speaking showed she was a proud woman from the state of Lemoyne.
"It went well, there are enough supplies in the barn to last about two months if we ration it out correctly" Mr. Roberts reported, occasionally he would talk like he was still in the army, Margret had gotten used to it by then.
Mr Roberts was a member of the 43rd Connecticut Infantry during the Civil War which had only ended ten years ago by that point "Jacob Roberts" Margret chuckled "I think if you had it your way you'd still be in the army, off in some in a ditch God only knows fighting more young rebel idiots"
Jacob shook his head "That was a long time ago. After happened in Scarlet Meadows. If I never have to use a gun on another man again as long as I live, I would die happy" he then smiled "Besides, this family and this homestead is my calling, not bunking in the ground with a bunch of men"
This remark caused Margret to laugh audibly "And to think. Your daddy wanted you to be a big city Lawyer!"
Jacob merely shrugged his shoulders before seemingly remembering something. He opened up the leather satchel he wore at all times and pulled out the salted meats "figure we could cook this for tonight" he said before handing it over to his wife.
The young girl came up to the two while they were talking and waited for them to finish their conversation "Daddy? You think tomorrow we could go fishing?" she asked enthusiastically
"I'll have to see what the weather is like tomorrow. Once I do, you'll get your answer, Claire, okay?" Jacob bent down and smiled at his young daughter.
"Alright, I'll go put this on the fire" Margret nodded holding the wrapped meat before heading into the kitchen.
After they ate, the Roberts family spend their time around the fireplace. Margret was reading a book, Claire was playing with her favorite doll, while Jacob sat watching them both. Eventually, it became late and they all retired to bed, Margret slipping into her blue sleeping gown while Jacob dressed into a white Union suit. They both climbed into bed
"Goodnight dear," Margret said already slipping into unconsciousness
"Goodnight Darling" Jacob responded before falling asleep